Training for learner drivers for motor vehicles may commence in an actual vehicle either on private property or on a public roadway. In either case, there are risks to safety given the vehicle will be under the control of a person who has no or very little actual experience of how to control a vehicle coupled with his or her unfamiliarity with the specific vehicle in question and its handling characteristics. A further factor is that the learner driver is most likely to be very apprehensive. If the driver training is on a public road, the risk of an accident is increased because of the likely presence of other moving vehicles.
Alternatively, driver training may commence in a vehicle simulator facility. Although this addresses the risks to safety associated with commencing driving training in an actual vehicle, it lacks the realism of use of an actual vehicle, which can lead to inefficiencies in a driver training programme.
Racing of motor vehicles is an established sport that is conducted in dedicated venues and generally involves specialised very high performance vehicles. It is also an activity often undertaken in streets, sometimes legally, but sometimes illegally by generally younger drivers and particularly in respect of drag racing. Such drivers are often inexperienced racing drivers who wish to test their skills and their cars, which are typically highly powered, against each other. Clearly such street racing of cars by inexperienced drivers raises issues of lack of safety both to the participants and their cars and, if illegal racing is underway, to others who may inadvertently enter the location of a street race.
The present invention seeks to provide apparatus that may be set up for simulated driving of a motor vehicle for driver training, or for simulating a race, for example, a drag or a circuit race as an alternative to an actual race. The simulation involves both the driver of a vehicle and an actual vehicle as such (which may be that driver's own vehicle) under control of the driver at least in terms of speed in a virtual reality environment. The vehicle effectively remains stationary during the simulation and thus the above-mentioned safety issues surrounding driver training and real races in streets are addressed. It is believed that drivers will find the driving training or racing simulation to be an attractive alternative experience to actual driving or racing because it involves the driver participating in an actual vehicle, which may be the driver's own car.